Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Space Jam (1996) Review:

It's hard to get sport celebrities in with big name franchises. The main reason why it's difficult is because of how well the celebrity can act. Michael Jordan is no Oscar nominee but his acting isn't bad and he fits in well with his surroundings. Even if they are a bunch of post-production drawings.

Swackhammer voiced by
Danny DeVito

Space Jam is the story of a once really good basketball player, Michael Jordan, who ends up off his game. But it's not until he's brought back to life and into the world of playing basketball when he runs into some very looney characters. These individuals are none other than the Looney Tunes characters. The Tunes' problem is that they've been challenged by a group of aliens who call themselves "The Monstars" to a game of basketball and if they lose, they surrender their freedom to becoming main attractions to a lousy theme park known as "Moron Mountain".

The owner of Moron Mountain is Swackhammer played by Danny DeVito, who oddly enough sounds a lot like Phil from Disney's Hercules (1997). Unfortunately, the rest of the voice actors who play the Looney Tunes characters are not performed by Mel Blanc or by his son. That's just one of two problems I have with this film. I’m not saying they’re not good but Blanc is the best.

Daffy Duck's voice just isn't the same. It is close, but it's not the right fit. At least the casting department could have had Joe Alaskey from Looney Tunes: Back In Action (LTBIA)(2003) to do Daffy's voice. His imitation was much better. And as a personal favorite I would've preferred to see Marvin the Martian have more screen time than just being a ref for the game. LTBIA had more screen time for him even if he was an antagonist.

Bugs & Lola Bunny

Besides this, everything else was done really well. The animation is good as are the sequences where live-action takes over which were also very well executed. The jokes are great too. Even adding in a love interest for Bugs was an interesting take. Too bad Lola was cut from LTBIA. The music, composed by James Newton Howard was also great to listen to. It had all the characteristics one would expect to hear in a live-action animation feature film.

Space Jam combines live-action animation and sports to create a kid/adult friendly film for everyone to enjoy. The music, jokes and characters (including Michael Jordan) are all respectable.